Dewey Ballantine
Encyclopedia
Dewey Ballantine LLP was a white shoe
corporate law firm headquartered in New York City
. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
to form Dewey & LeBoeuf
. The firm underwent numerous name changes throughout its history as partners left to serve in government positions or form new firms.
- Grenville Clark
, Francis W. Bird, and Elihu Root, Jr., son of New York
Senator Elihu Root
(who had previously served as United States Secretary of War
(1899-1904) and as United States Secretary of State
(1904-1909)), agreed to establish a law partnership on Wall Street
, named Root, Clark & Bird. The young lawyers were able to capitalize on the senior Root's connections to gain an entry into high financial circles and soon had a thriving law practice. In 1913, the firm merged with the firm of Buckner & Howland (a firm which had recently been founded by Emory Buckner
) to form Root, Clark, Buckner & Howland.
In the 1920s, Arthur A. Ballantine, who had become the Internal Revenue Service
's first solicitor in 1918, joined the firm and ran the firm along with Emory Buckner throughout the 1920s and 1930s. During the Great Depression
, the firm flourished by moving away from its traditional focus on litigation and to begin focusing on bankruptcy
and reorganizations, and then by taking the advantage of the New Deal
to build a thriving regulatory
practice.
The firm also built up a corporate
practice, serving clients such as AT&T
and Standard Oil
. Overall, the firm expanded from 8 to 74 associates and opened a second office in Washington, D.C.
Both Henry Friendly
and John Marshall Harlan II
worked at the firm during this period.
The firm weathered many name changes from its founding through 1955, as named partners left the firm for periods of time to serve in a number of important government positions. Among them was Emory Buckner
, who left to become United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
and is often credited with remaking that office into a professional prosecutorial office by declining to appoint Assistants based on party affiliation. Partner Grenville Clark
served as United States Postmaster General
. Later generations of partners included John Marshall Harlan II
, who left the firm when appointed to serve as a Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and who later became an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; Henry J. Friendly, who left with several partners to form the firm of Cleary, Friendly, Gottlieb & Steen (now Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
) and later was appointed to serve on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 1955, Governor Thomas E. Dewey joined the firm as a partner after leaving office and the firm, then called Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood, became Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood. It shortened the name to Dewey Ballantine in 1990 and later adopted the limited liability partnership
form, becoming Dewey Ballantine LLP. Arthur Ballantine, the other partner whose name survived in the pre-merger name of the firm, joined the firm in 1919 after serving as the first solicitor of the Internal Revenue Service
.
In 1961, Dewey invited Richard M. Nixon, following his loss in the presidential election of the previous year, to move to New York and join the firm. However, Nixon opted to remain in California, which was at that time his political base, in consideration of his future options for public office.
In early 2007, Dewey Ballantine had approximately 500 attorneys in 12 offices around the world.
On October 25, 2006, the firm announced that it would merge with the San Francisco-based, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
. With over 1,500 attorneys, the combined firm would have been among the 10 largest firms in the United States
. Ultimately, however, the two firms were not able to successfully negotiate the merger and it was called off in January 2007.
On October 1, 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
to form the combined firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. The combined firm has over 1,400 attorneys in 27 offices around the world.
The headquarters for Dewey & LeBoeuf are located in the Calyon Building in Midtown Manhattan
. These offices, which belonged to the legacy Dewey Ballantine firm, were featured in the 2007 film Michael Clayton
starring George Clooney
.
White shoe firm
White shoe firm is a phrase used to describe the leading professional services firms in the United States, particularly firms that have been in existence for more than a century and represent Fortune 500 companies...
corporate law firm headquartered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP was an international law firm of more than 700 attorneys headquartered in New York City.Founded in 1929, LeBoeuf had practices in most areas and was well known for its representation of government regulated companies, particularly in the insurance and energy...
to form Dewey & LeBoeuf
Dewey & LeBoeuf
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is a prominent global white shoe law firm, headquartered in New York City. Originally founded in 1909, the firm currently has over 2400 lawyers spread throughout 26 offices in 15 countries on 4 continents, and is known primarily for its corporate, insurance, litigation, tax and...
. The firm underwent numerous name changes throughout its history as partners left to serve in government positions or form new firms.
History
In 1909, three recent graduates of Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
- Grenville Clark
Grenville Clark
Grenville Clark was the writer of the book World Peace Through World Law...
, Francis W. Bird, and Elihu Root, Jr., son of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Senator Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
(who had previously served as United States Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
(1899-1904) and as United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
(1904-1909)), agreed to establish a law partnership on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
, named Root, Clark & Bird. The young lawyers were able to capitalize on the senior Root's connections to gain an entry into high financial circles and soon had a thriving law practice. In 1913, the firm merged with the firm of Buckner & Howland (a firm which had recently been founded by Emory Buckner
Emory Buckner
Emory Buckner was a prominent U.S. lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he gained a reputation as one of the greatest prosecutors in American history...
) to form Root, Clark, Buckner & Howland.
In the 1920s, Arthur A. Ballantine, who had become the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
's first solicitor in 1918, joined the firm and ran the firm along with Emory Buckner throughout the 1920s and 1930s. During the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
, the firm flourished by moving away from its traditional focus on litigation and to begin focusing on bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and reorganizations, and then by taking the advantage of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
to build a thriving regulatory
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
practice.
The firm also built up a corporate
Corporate law
Corporate law is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another. Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law...
practice, serving clients such as AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
. Overall, the firm expanded from 8 to 74 associates and opened a second office in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Both Henry Friendly
Henry Friendly
Henry Jacob Friendly was a prominent judge in the United States, who sat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1959 through 1974 and in senior status until his death by suicide in 1986.- Before the bench :Judge Friendly graduated from...
and John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. His namesake was his grandfather John Marshall Harlan, another associate justice who served from 1877 to 1911.Harlan was a student at Upper Canada College and Appleby College and...
worked at the firm during this period.
The firm weathered many name changes from its founding through 1955, as named partners left the firm for periods of time to serve in a number of important government positions. Among them was Emory Buckner
Emory Buckner
Emory Buckner was a prominent U.S. lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he gained a reputation as one of the greatest prosecutors in American history...
, who left to become United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
and is often credited with remaking that office into a professional prosecutorial office by declining to appoint Assistants based on party affiliation. Partner Grenville Clark
Grenville Clark
Grenville Clark was the writer of the book World Peace Through World Law...
served as United States Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
. Later generations of partners included John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. His namesake was his grandfather John Marshall Harlan, another associate justice who served from 1877 to 1911.Harlan was a student at Upper Canada College and Appleby College and...
, who left the firm when appointed to serve as a Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and who later became an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; Henry J. Friendly, who left with several partners to form the firm of Cleary, Friendly, Gottlieb & Steen (now Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is an international law firm headquartered at One Liberty Plaza in New York City. The firm currently has offices in Washington DC, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, Rome, Milan, Brussels, Moscow, Frankfurt, Cologne, Paris, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. It employs over...
) and later was appointed to serve on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 1955, Governor Thomas E. Dewey joined the firm as a partner after leaving office and the firm, then called Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood, became Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood. It shortened the name to Dewey Ballantine in 1990 and later adopted the limited liability partnership
Limited liability partnership
A limited liability partnership is a partnership in which some or all partners have limited liability. It therefore exhibits elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence. This is an important...
form, becoming Dewey Ballantine LLP. Arthur Ballantine, the other partner whose name survived in the pre-merger name of the firm, joined the firm in 1919 after serving as the first solicitor of the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
.
In 1961, Dewey invited Richard M. Nixon, following his loss in the presidential election of the previous year, to move to New York and join the firm. However, Nixon opted to remain in California, which was at that time his political base, in consideration of his future options for public office.
In early 2007, Dewey Ballantine had approximately 500 attorneys in 12 offices around the world.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is an international law firm founded in San Francisco. Orrick traces its roots back to 1863, making it the oldest continuously-operating law firm in San Francisco, and the second-oldest privately-held company in San Francisco after Levi Strauss & Co....
. With over 1,500 attorneys, the combined firm would have been among the 10 largest firms in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Ultimately, however, the two firms were not able to successfully negotiate the merger and it was called off in January 2007.
On October 1, 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP was an international law firm of more than 700 attorneys headquartered in New York City.Founded in 1929, LeBoeuf had practices in most areas and was well known for its representation of government regulated companies, particularly in the insurance and energy...
to form the combined firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. The combined firm has over 1,400 attorneys in 27 offices around the world.
The headquarters for Dewey & LeBoeuf are located in the Calyon Building in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
. These offices, which belonged to the legacy Dewey Ballantine firm, were featured in the 2007 film Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (film)
Michael Clayton is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Tony Gilroy, starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack...
starring George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
.